美国国家公共电台 NPR Depression Strikes Today's Teen Girls Especially Hard

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's tough to be a teenager. It's especially tough for girls, who are more vulnerable to depression than boys. New research shows that's getting even worse. As NPR's Patti Neighmond reports, girls are now three times more likely than boys to suffer major depression.

PATTI NEIGHMOND, BYLINE¹: There are lots of reasons why depression increases once a child becomes a teenager. Hormones² kick in. Peer pressure escalates³ - so does academic expectation. Teens become more aware of their environment - economic pressures and violence in the neighborhood. This is true for both boys and girls. But psychologist Catherine Steiner-Adair says for girls, cultural pressures make things even worse.

CATHERINE STEINER-ADAIR: You are judged profoundly by how you look. Girls are still being given the messages that shopping and dieting are two essential tools for being successful, no matter how smart you are, how brilliant you are or how gifted or passionate⁴ you are.

NEIGHMOND: At Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, psychiatrist⁵ Ramin Mojtabai wanted to know whether depression was increasing among teenagers. He analyzed⁶ federal data from interviews with more than 172,000 adolescents and found that between 2005 and 2014, depression went up significantly, an estimated half a million more teenagers nationwide, three-quarters of them girls. Notably⁷, he says, there was a sharp increase after 2011, around the same time the newest social media tools got going. This is especially true, he says, for girls.

RAMIN MOJTABAI: Young girls are more likely to use these new means of communication. And also, young girls might be more exposed to cyberbullying or other negative effects of this social media.

NEIGHMOND: For example, when teen girls eagerly go online to check in with their friends, psychologist Steiner-Adair says they can be in for an upsetting surprise.

STEINER-ADAIR: Girls describe, well, they'll go online to, you know, quote, "chill from doing homework." "I'll take a five-minute break." You know, that's what they say. I'm just going take a five-minute break. I'm going to go online. I'm going to meet up with my friends. And suddenly, they see that in two days, everyone's having a sleepover or going to a party that they knew nothing about.

NEIGHMOND: Their heart sinks. And frankly⁸, the five-minute chill, she says, hijacks⁹ the homework.

STEINER-ADAIR: They can't go back and concentrate. They don't know what to do with this information. You don't want to look needy¹⁰. You don't want to look desperate. You can't believe that one of the girls who you just spoke¹¹ with at school that day said nothing about it to you.

NEIGHMOND: Which often causes feelings of sadness, stress and anxiety. Steiner-Adair's written and often speaks about the paradox¹² of social media, the benefit of being connected with friends or family 24/7 versus¹³ a compulsion to check in almost constantly.

STEINER-ADAIR: For girls in particular, they will say to me things like, oh, my whole identity - I get my identity from my phone. And so I say - well, what do you mean you get your identity from my phone? She goes oh, my God, are you kidding me? Like, what Snapchat - you know, whose story am I in? What Insta (ph) have I been tagged? Where haven't I been?

NEIGHMOND: Which can put them in a state of near-constant anxiety, which only increases their risk of depression. Psychiatrist Mojtabai says teens who become depressed¹⁴ are often not diagnosed. Only 42 percent ever receive treatment.

MOJTABAI: It's of concern that the majority of these kids do not receive any attention. Now, this attention does not need to be a medication treatment. It could be a few sessions of counseling.

NEIGHMOND: Even one counseling session, he says, can be helpful. Mojtabai also says parents, school counselors¹⁵ and family doctors should be on the lookout¹⁶ for symptoms of depression - changes in sleep, appetite or energy, a growing inability to pay attention or concentrate. Steiner-Adair suggests schools get proactive and help kids negotiate a world of constant online activity. One idea she says - a course in mindfulness.

STEINER-ADAIR: How to understand their brains on tech and how their brains need a rest and how to self-regulate, how to manage ourselves.

NEIGHMOND: And, she says, most importantly, understand the value of solitude¹⁷ and how to calm the urge to constantly check the phone.

Patti Neighmond, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

3 escalates   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的第三人称单数 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. 面临的挑战越大，越需要团队协同合作。 来自互联网
• I cannot understand why a minor disagreement escalates into a fist-fight. 我真不明白为什么一点意见不合就变成了拳头相见。 来自互联网

4 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

5 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

6 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

8 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

9 hijacks   

劫持( hijack的名词复数 )； 绑架； 拦路抢劫； 操纵（会议等，以推销自己的意图）

参考例句：

• Just as life infiltrates matter mercilessly and then hijacks it forever, cultural life hijacks biology. 正如生命无情地浸入物质并永远地将其劫持，文化生命也劫持了生物界。

10 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 paradox   

n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)

参考例句：

• The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
• The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。

13 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

14 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

15 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

16 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

17 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。